Lakefront condo project is on hold

A rendering of The Parkway Residences at 3017-25 E. Calhoun Pkwy. Rendering by Snow Kreilich Architects

A proposed five-story condominium building on East Calhoun Parkway is on hold.

CPM Development has paused a proposal for an 18-unit building at 3017, 3021 and 3025 E. Calhoun Pkwy after an informal February meeting with the city’s Planning Commission.

“After listing to city comments we have decided to put the project on hold for now,” CPM co-founder Nick Walton said in an email.

Planning Commission President Matthew Brown said commissioners expressed concern about the project’s consistency with the Uptown Small Area Plan, which is a community plan to guide future development. The plan says new construction should match the prevailing neighborhood character. Following the plan’s adoption in 2008, the Calhoun Parkway site was down-zoned so less height and density would be allowed as of right.

The site shares an alley with single-family homes, duplexes, three-story buildings and the six-story Edgewater condominiums at the north end of the block.

Rendering by Snow Kreilich Architects

Brown said commissioners made a couple of comments about the site’s location inside the Shoreland Overlay District, which requires a city-issued conditional use permit to build above 2.5 stories near the water. But the main concerns related to the Small Area Plan, he said.

The East Calhoun Community Organization formally opposed the proposal in a letter submitted to city officials last month. The letter states that even though the new condos would stand between two multifamily buildings, they would be located in the most visible part of the Chain of Lakes.

“We all know the power of precedence, such that if this project were to be approved there would [be] no way to stop further such tall developments on the parkways surrounding all of our lakes,” states the letter.

When asked whether the project would undergo a redesign, Walton said he had no updates on potential next steps. He said CPM still controls the site.